Christmas Present
by Richefic
Summary: Tag to 7.10 "Faith" with spoilers for that episode. Jack, Gibbs and Tony celebrate Christmas together and unwrap more than gifts.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - If you recognise them, they're not mine, I'm just making them do the things I wish they'd do on the show.

* * *

The bullpen was almost deserted as Tony settled behind his desk. He knew McGee had already left to spend time with his family. Abby and Ziva were at the airport waiting for their flights. Abby to spend time with her numerous relations in New Orleans and Ziva to escape the snow and ice in DC by heading for the sun, Ducky was doing battle with the holiday traffic as he took his mother to visit with his sister and her family. Palmer had already left town and even Gibbs had put in for leave to spend time with his father.

"So, I guess that just leaves yours truly." Tony murmured.

He realised that he had been so focused on achieving his self-appointed super secret mission that he had neglected to think about what he would do when it actually succeeded. He supposed he could always fall back on his pre-NCIS rituals of working the holiday shift, followed by a Christmas movie marathon and a turkey and stuffing pizza, chased down with a beer or six. Ever since his frat brothers had started to get married he had always resisted accepting invitations from them over Christmas. Although, they were always genuine and well meaning, it just felt wrong to him to intrude on another family's celebrations.

It wasn't something he'd ever had to think about since he met Gibbs. Tony smiled as he thought back to his first Christmas at NCIS. He had known his Boss well enough by then not to be surprised to find the other man working the holiday, despite his seniority. Although, the simple gift bag sitting on his desk had been unexpected. With a soft smile Tony pulled out the simple black leather wallet, a replacement for one he had ruined chasing a suspect into a storm drain. Running his thumb across the leather, now soft with age, he let the memory of the rest of that day wash over him.

"_He shoots .. and he scores .. and the crowd goes wild." Tony cheered._

"_You planning on doing any work today?" Gibbs didn't look up__ from what he was writing._

"_C'mon Boss," Tony protested, even as he continued to flick playing cards into the trash can. "We've been here for hours, shift's almost over, the phones have only rung once and that was Abby calling to wish us both a Merry Christmas."_

"_Even criminals like to spend the holidays with their families." Gibbs observed._

"_Really?" Tony considered that. "Always seemed like a miracle that Christmas at Casa DiNozzo didn't end up in at least a homicide or two."_

_That got him an amused snort, which made Tony grin with the pride he always felt when he managed to crack the former marine's dour facade. Pushing back in his chair, DiNozzo surveyed his almost empty desk. He had caught on all his paperwork, cleared all his filing and for the last hour he had been doing nothing but reviewing cold cases._

"_I might have found a lead in the Watson case." He offered as he picked up the relevant file and wandered over to stand in front of his Boss' desk. _

"_Yeah?" Now Gibbs did look up, as he took the file from him squinting a little as he read the small print. He allowed himself a small nod, the connection was tenuous, but DiNozzo had a talent for thinking outside the box. It might just pan out. "We'll go check it out, tomorrow."_

"_Tomorrow?" Tony blinked._

"_Tomorrow," Gibbs confirmed, already rising to his feet and shrugging into his coat as the agents due to relieve them spilled out of the elevator. "Its Christmas, DiNozzo."_

_For a second DiNozzo just looked at him, like a deer caught in the headlights. Gibbs considered explaining his reasons. But he would always rather his people worked things out for themselves. The case had already waited nine years it could reasonably wait a few more hours, especially as the people they needed to speak to were probably out of town for the holidays. Plus, they had already worked an eight hour shift with nothing to eat but snacks from the vending machine._

"_Of course, it is," Tony nodded, looking suddenly bereft, before pasting a too bright smile that didn't fool Gibbs for as instant as his junior agent turned towards his desk and opened his drawer to holster his weapon and put his keys in his pocket. "I guess I'll just grab my gear then. I'm sure it's not too late to call Candy and see if she can come out to play. Or better still stay in."_

"_You've got one hour," Gibbs' voice stopped him in his tracks, "Go home, get changed, pack a bag, be at my place by 1930 hours."_

"_Your place?" Tony repeated. _

"_You bring the beer. I'll cook." Gibbs had actually smiled. _

The former marine had turned out to be a pretty good cook. The store had been all out of turkey, but the roast beef had made a good substitute, with all the trimmings and the best gravy Tony had ever tasted. The next year Gibbs had bought the Turkey the week before and despite their unpredictable schedules they had managed some sort of festive meal together one way or another every year until now. Still, he only had himself to blame and if things worked out it could be the best present he had ever given his Boss.

"Speaking of which." Tony bounced up.

First he checked the filing cabinet. Two clean shirts and a change of underwear but no gift. The he looked in all his drawers with the same result. Dropping to his knees his scanned the floor under and around his desk, still no gift. Feeling the first genuine pangs of disappointment, he double checked every place again, in case he might have missed something small and expensive the first time but came up just as empty second time around.

He looked at Gibbs' desk.

With a sigh, Tony flopped back in his chair and pulled one of his cold cases out of the draw and started to read, after a few minutes he reached absent mindedly into his desk and searched with his fingers until they closed around a three musketeers bar. Peeling off the wrapper he looked at the chocolate candy. It wasn't exactly a turkey dinner, but it would fill a hole. Chewing slowly, he tipped right back in his chair and pulled the folder into his lap.

He resisted temptation for a whole 43 seconds.

Jumping up, he took a quick look around, before heading over to Gibbs desk. His hand hovered over the desk drawer for a second, before deciding to start with the more legitimately communal area of Gibbs filing cabinet. But when there was nothing of interest in any of the drawers he couldn't resist moving back to the desk. Nothing in the top drawer, but as he pulled open the second drawer he rubbed his hands in glee as he saw a foil wrapped box. Reaching inside, he had just lifted it out when he heard the elevator ding and a familiar voice halt him in his tracks.

"Want to tell me what you think you're doing?"

* * *

"So," A little earlier that evening Jackson eased himself back into the passenger seat of the yellow charger, having made a lot of kids very happy with the handmade wooden toys. "How many are we cooking for tomorrow?"

"Just you and me." Gibbs started the car.

"Really?" Jackson looked surprised. "You don't plan on seeing any of that team of yours?"

"Nope."

"Well, I know Abby was real excited about seeing her folks in New Orleans and young Tim was looking forward to visiting with his parents and Ziva doesn't exactly celebrate Christmas so she's just going to be enjoying her vacation, but I thought Dr Mallard or that young fella of yours might come around."

"Ducky is taking his mother to see his sister and her family," Gibbs kept his eyes on the road. "And DiNozzo's got other plans."

"Oh?" Jack looked surprised.

"Some thing with his College buddies." Gibbs' tone was clipped.

He didn't want to admit that he hadn't really been listening to the details. He had been so pre-occupied with his father's well being that when his senior field agent had started rambling on about his frat brothers and some villa in Mexico it had taken him a good five minutes to work out that DiNozzo was apparently planning on spending the holidays there. By which point, the younger man had left two awkwardly wrapped boxes on his desk, one each for him and Jack, grabbed his gear and left.

Gibbs scowled to himself as he thought of the enormous turkey, bought with DiNozzo's appetite in mind, sitting in his refrigerator. He only had himself to blame. He had broken one of his own rules by assuming that, even if Jack didn't make it into town, Tony would be eating with him. He should have doubled checked, but it had never occurred to him the younger man would want to be anywhere else.

Seemed he had been wrong about that.

"Now Leroy," Jack cautioned as he took in his sour expression. "You teach that boy to believe in himself, you can't hold it against him, when he begins to spread his wings a little. He's not going to stay tied to your apron strings forever."

Gibbs snorted at that image. Even in the early days DiNozzo had always been his own man, never afraid to tell Gibbs when he thought the former marine was full of it. Still, Gibbs didn't think he and ever been more proud than when DiNozzo had looked him in the eye and told him 'no.' Except, maybe when the younger man had squared up to Eli David, or sucked it up when Vance had broken up the team to become a first rate Agent Afloat. DiNozzo had done more than his share of growing recently.

"There's not much more I can teach him." Gibbs admitted.

"And you think that's all you are to him?" Jack demanded. "Some kind of crime professor?"

"You're the one telling me to let go." Gibbs pointed out mildly.

"Didn't say anything about washing your hands of him," Jack pointed out. "Just because he can stand on his own two feet, don't mean he doesn't need a word of encouragement now and again."

"DiNozzo knows where he stands with me."

Gibbs had never lost sight of the fact that Tony always continued to need his support and encouragement. To keep his head on straight when the Grant case seemed to be going nowhere, to keep preserving in the face of Vance's politicking, when they went after Saleem, to keep faith with himself when it seemed like the whole world and Eli David were against him. Gibbs didn't mind, he always figured that was how things were supposed to be between family.

As old as he was, there was a reason he had let his own father back into his life after all.

"And if he ends up leading his own team? Moves to another part of the country maybe?" Jackson pressed. "You won't be his Boss anymore. You said yourself you've taught almost all you can as a mentor. Sure, you can try and stay friends, keep in touch, but you're both the type to let job get in the way."

"We'll manage." Gibbs wouldn't accept any other outcome.

Tony had been his partner longer than anyone. They had shared things he couldn't even find words to describe to his father. He could no longer imagine his life without the younger man in it. Raw fear of losing him to the plague had forged a unique bond which Tony's predisposition for going missing and Gibbs knack of getting blown up had only strengthened.

Gibbs' memory loss and hiatus in Mexico had knocked them off their stride for a while but they had ultimately forged a more equal partnership. Each had faced the horror of believing the other was dead. They had been to hell and back in Somalia. During DiNozzo's almost four month posting as Agent Afloat they had spoken at least once a week, not to mention the numerous semi-official e-mails they had exchanged and the occasional completely illegal use of MTAC.

_Gibbs looked impatiently at his watch as Keating spoke words about software improvements and system upgrades that he didn't understand and cared about even less. Thanks to the time it had taken to close their last case, even taking into the difference the time zone he only had another fifteen minutes to put his plan into action, or all his preparation would be for nothing, Closing the manila folder with a snap, he slapped it against the other man's chest with a curt "Fix it" leaving the other man standing open mouthed as he doubled timed it up to MTAC._

"_Special Agent Gibbs," Marc Wilson, a veteran technician greeted him with a relieved smile. "I thought you were going to miss the window."_

"_We all set?"_

_Gibbs didn't waste any time on small talk. Wilson wasn't offended. The wooden rocking horse he had spent hours building for Wilson's grand-daughter already spoke volumes about how important these five minutes of satellite time was to the Supervisory Special Agent._

"_It'll just take a second to patch through to the Seahawk."_

_A few moments later, the slightly grainy image of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo appeared on the main screen. The usually dapper young Agent, looked a little care worn, stubble spotting his chin, dark circles under his eyes, although he brightened considerably when he saw who his caller was._

"_Pa, long time no see." _

"_Busy day, DiNozzo?" _

_The tone was light, but Wilson could see the lines around Gibbs' mouth as his jaw tightened and his eyes crinkled with concern._

"_You know how it is being the only cop in a city of 5000," DiNozzo shrugged, "I swear I'd take one good murder over a couple of dozen petty misdemeanour's any day. Not that I actually want anyone to die. Well, expect Seaman Harris, perhaps. Any chance you could send me some of those little strips that stop people snoring like pigs?"_

"_You get Abby's parcel?"_

"_Abby's parcel, an e-card from McGeek, a book from Ducky, a text from Ziva that contained exactly thirteen letters which began with H and ended in Y. I'll let you fill in the gaps. Nothing from my Boss though, I think he's forgotten about me."_

"_Your father's present arrived." Gibbs informed him._

"_What was it this year?" Tony tipped his head on one side._

"_You have much use for a rice cooker out there?"_

"_A rice cooker?" Tony blinked. "People actually cook rice? What's wrong with takeout?_

"_Damned if I know," Gibbs shrugged._

"_So," Tony looked expectantly at him. "Was there any particular reason you called Pa?"_

"_Yeah," Gibbs hid his grin. "The gear stick on your car needs attention. I'm going to need to take it into the garage."_

"_You just love living up to that second B don't you?" Tony hissed at the screen. "C'mon Boss, I'm dying here!"_

"_You check your e-mail lately?" Gibbs asked laconically._

"_Not for an hour or so," Tony admitted, already typing his password in and scanning through his inbox. As he opened Gibbs message his face broke into a broad grin his eyes shining with joy. "I get to drive a real racing car, around a real track?"_

"_Figured you might need something to look forward to," Gibbs allowed. "Better than a damned rice cooker."_

"_I love you, Boss."_

He vividly remembered Tony's bright joyous grin as he had turned to see him and Ziva standing there in Cartagena, the way that he had run over and hugged them both, confident that the gesture would be not only welcome but reciprocated. The way Gibbs had laughed and mussed his hair slightly. His amusement when Tony had insisting on telling him "I missed you, Boss." and his own heartfelt "I know." As he acknowledged that he and missed the younger man just as much as Tony had missed him.

"So, how come Tony didn't tell you he was going out of town before you went out and bought that giant turkey?" Jack's voice cut into his thoughts.

Gibbs blinked.

Now he actually thought about it Tony hadn't said a word about going out of town when they were working the case. He hadn't even spoken up when Jack had arrived. It was only after the whole mess with the fire trucks and Gibbs' obvious anxiety about his father that the younger man had suddenly started talking about Mexico. Shaking his head, Gibbs was tempted to head slap himself for being such a damned idiot, even as he pulled the Charger into a U turn, to much honking of horns as he cut across the lanes of traffic.

"You forget something, son?" Jack asked, as he gripped the door tightly.

"You mind if we stop by the office, Dad?" Gibbs asked rhetorically. "There's something I need to pick up."


	2. Chapter 2

Tony froze in the act of lifting the foil wrapped gift out of Gibbs drawer, his eyes widening, and his expression reflecting his panic more than any words, caught as he was red handed burrowing around in his Boss' desk drawer, his supposedly private and definitely off limits to nosy senior field agents without a very good reason desk drawer. Gathering his undercover skills around him like a cloak, Tony pasted on his best smile and straightened up, as if he wasn't remotely wrong footed by the unexpected interruption.

"Jack." Tony walked over and extended his hand, hiding the incriminating parcel behind his back. "It's good to see you again, but I thought you were spending time with Gibbs, um, I mean, other Gibbs."

"And I thought you told Leroy you had other plans for Christmas this year?" Jack gripped his hand tightly and fixed him with a steady look every bit as piercing as his son's best glare.

"I did," Tony nodded, "I do. In fact, I was just leaving. Is that the time?" Tony made a show of glancing at his watch, before breaking away to shelter behind his desk, deciding to make it look good by powering down his computer, only to curse under his breath at how long the machine took to simply turn itself off, even as he snatched up his backpack, eager to escape that knowing look. "Better make tracks, don't want to keep anyone waiting. Can I walk you out?"

"You practise that?" Jack didn't move. "Cos I gotta say that's quite a skill."

"What?" Tony tried his best 'innocent' look.

"You use a whole lot of words, but you don't say a whole lot," Jack pointed out, even as he made his way over to McGee's desk and brought his chair over. Settling into it, he nodded at Tony to take his own seat. "Now, you want to tell what was so important that you couldn't make Christmas dinner with my boy?"

"I do know other people you know," Tony evaded, even as he reluctantly sat. The only alternative was to be rude to Gibbs senior and that simply wasn't an option. Still, that didn't mean he was down for the count yet. Making a big show of shaking the foiled covered box he was still holding he asked. "You don't happen to know what your son has bought me for Christmas this year, do you? Because this definitely isn't big enough to be the Ferrari 599 GTB I asked for."

"Give me that," Jack simply took the box out of his hands and put in firmly out of reach inside his jacket. "Now answer my question, son."

"Look," Tony decided to be at least partially honest. "This is the first Christmas you've spent with your son, since .." Tony made a face. He didn't think mentioning Shannon and Kelly's deaths was very tactful. "Well in a long time. I just thought you might want some quality time to catch up. And my frat brothers are always inviting me to spend Christmas with them and their families so its all good."

"You've left it a little late to leave for the holidays." Jack pointed out.

Tony felt his cheeks heat with a tell tale blush. For all his under cover skills, he could not bring himself to outright lie to this man, who had shown him nothing but kindness and acceptance. As Jack's eyes narrowed, he correctly interpreted the source of the older man's irritation.

"It's not the Boss' fault," He was quick to defend his team lead. "He thinks I'm on a plane to Mexico as we speak."

"You lie to him?" Jack raised a brow.

"Not as such," Tony made a face. "I told him some of my frat brothers are renting a couple of villas in Mexico over the holidays and they are. It's just that they're going to one of those families only resorts so, unless I find Angelina Jolie and a couple of orphans up for adoption in my Christmas stocking, I won't be going with them."

"Still haven't heard a good reason why you are sitting here all alone, when there's an enormous turkey and a dinner table where you've always been made welcome waiting on you."

"It's not that I didn't think I'd be welcome. But it's obvious you've had something pretty big weighing on your mind. And the Boss has been worried about you. You guys needed some time to straighten things out between and I didn't want to complicate things."

"Leroy tell you that he was worried about me?" Jack was curious.

"In case you haven't noticed, your son doesn't tell anyone much about anything, but I've worked with him long enough to know when something is really bothering him," Tony fixed Jack with a look of his own. "Look, I know paying alimony stretches the Boss' pay check pretty thin and I'm guessing the folks in Stillwater can't afford to pay top dollar for their groceries, given the global recession. But I have some money from my Nonna thanks to the Boss. So, if you need help with any medical bills?"

"That's mighty generous of you," Jackson looked genuinely touched. "But you don't have to worry. I'm not sickening for anything. Truth is I shot a man."

As Jack explained what had happened at the store he searched DiNozzo's expression for any trace of censure, but he saw nothing but sympathy and understanding.

"I've killed a lot of people in my career, both as a cop and an NCIS Agent," Tony admitted, when he was finished. "I'm not proud of that, but when I consider the alternative, the innocent lives that would have been lost if I had stood by and done nothing, there is no alternative."

"From what I hear, you've saved my boy's life a time or two." Jack acknowledged. "I for one am pretty grateful for that."

"It goes both ways," Tony met his gaze. "He's always had my six. I'm not saying killing people is easy. I don't think it's supposed to be. But you're a good man, Jackson Gibbs. You gave that guy a chance to take anything he needed for his family. But I guess he didn't care as much about what might happen to his kid as you do."

Jack nodded softly as he accepted that. Not missing the way that the younger man's expression tightened a little around the eyes and jaw as he spoke about the robber not thinking about the impact of his actions on his child. In many ways the young fella was a lot like Leroy. But it was clear to Jack that he'd never had much of a father figure growing up.

"Your Dad care more about tending to his own business than what you needed?" He asked matter-of-factly.

"I always got whatever I asked for at Christmas," Tony deflected. "I just told my father's PA what I wanted and she went out and bought what ever it was. That's got to be any kid's dream, right?"

Any response Jack might have made to that was cut off by the ding of the elevator arriving as the doors opened to reveal Director Vance and Special Agent Gibbs. With an apologetic smile the Director came over to shake Jack's hand.

"Mr Gibbs, I'm sorry to keep you waiting on your son on Christmas Eve, there were just a few details he and I needed to discuss but now he's all yours. I'm sure you're eager to get home and enjoy the holidays. I'll leave you to your plans I have two little girls waiting at home to put out the milk and cookies for Santa."

Gibbs waited until Vance had left before turning his attention to his senior field Agent and fixing him with a look. To Tony's discomfort he didn't look the slightest bit surprised to see him there.

"Hey Boss," Tony smiled weakly. "Merry Christmas."

"Miss your flight, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked archly.

"Now Leroy, don't you go giving the boy a hard time, just because you didn't think to ask the right questions." Jack rebuked as he rose to his feet.

To Tony's acute embarrassment the elder Gibbs took his son by the arm and marched him across to the staircase, where the two of them spoke in low tones, too quiet for even his sensitive hearing to catch what they were saying, although they were obviously talking about him. Jack's words were soft and urgent, punctuated by hand gestures. Gibbs said very little, only once or twice looking over at his senior field agent with an unreadable expression.

Tony scrubbed at his face. He knew he should have left when the others did. But the thought of his empty apartment, with only his big screen TV and DVDs for company had seemed painfully lonely after the warmth of recent holidays. He hadn't bothered to decorate or buy a tree. Not that he had any tree ornaments anyway. Closing his eyes against the whole sorry mess he tipped his head back, only to be jerked back to awareness by a light slap to the back of his head.

"You want to tell me why you feel enough like family to offer to pay my father's medical bills, but not to sit down and eat with us?" Gibbs asked.

"C'mon, Boss, I wouldn't have been able to touch a cent of Nonna's money if you hadn't called in a favour with that classy beltway lawyer," Tony pointed out. "And she would have liked, Jack."

"DiNozzo."

"You telling me you and Jack don't still have things you need to straighten out?" Tony eyed his Boss knowingly. "I just figured I would be in the way. Because after all these years I doubt its all "Leave it to Beaver" between you guys."

"You been trying to play _me_, DiNozzo?"

Gibbs face looked impassive, but Tony had known him for long enough to realise that his Boss wasn't really pissed. If anything he was impressed and maybe a little bit proud of the lengths his senior field agent had been prepared to go to pull this off for him.

"That depends, Leroy," Tony risked a smile. "Is it working?"

"You start channelling my Dad and I'll head slap you into next week," Gibbs warned without heat. "Actually, things might go a little smoother between the two of us if you were around."

"Really?" Tony looked absurdly pleased.

"Yeah," Gibbs grinned at him. "You can do the dishes."


	3. Chapter 3

AN- Many thanks for all the support and reviews, just to say this story will be reflecting events in "Not a Guest Room." You don't need to have read it – just understand that in my universe Tony is living with Gibbs by this point.

* * *

As he turned into his neighbourhood, Gibbs checked the rear view mirror to be sure that DiNozzo was still following them. The younger man might have agreed to come and eat Christmas dinner, but Gibbs knew him too well to think this was over yet. Sure enough DiNozzo was simply biding his time until Jack was settled on the couch in front of the TV and the two of them were in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and slicing carrots to go with the turkey.

"Don't say it," Gibbs warned, as soon as the young man opened his mouth. "I don't want to hear it."

"C'mon Boss," As usual, when Tony felt strongly about something, his Boss' warning carried no weight. "It would be great to share Christmas dinner with you guys. But while you're Dad's here I really think I should check into a Hotel."

"That why you've been avoiding coming home since he got into town?" Gibbs raised a brow.

They had both been busy with the case, but it hadn't escaped Gibbs' notice that Tony hadn't been around since Jack had arrived. It wasn't unusual for the younger man to follow his own interests, or even stay out overnight occasionally. It wasn't like his Boss was his keeper. However, these last couple of days he had been conspicuous by his complete absence.

"Boss, you've got your Dad sleeping on the couch, that's just _wrong_."

"So, I just kick you out of your room whenever it suits me?" Gibbs challenged. "Damn it, DiNozzo, didn't you listen to any of the things I've been telling you?"

"Gibbs, he's your Dad, however things are between you guys, that doesn't change."

Gibbs would be pissed, but he knew DiNozzo was utterly sincere. Despite DiNozzo's senior's lack of interest bordering on neglect, they both knew that if he turned up tomorrow DiNozzo would not only welcome him with open arms but give the bastard the shirt off his back if need be. That was just the kind of man he was. He never seemed to think he was worth going the extra mile for, but he would bend over backwards to help others.

"If that was all there was to it, I would have given him my bed, not yours," Gibbs pointed out. "He said he was happier done here, not as far to get to the kitchen and bathroom."

"Oh," Tony realised. Then winced, "And you're not just saying that to make me feel better. Because saying things just to be nice, isn't really your style, is it Boss? So, I could have stayed here all the time?"

"Ya think?" Gibbs gave him an old fashioned look.

"But are you sure Jack will be okay with it?" Tony looked anxious again. "Because, it might seem a little odd to him, me still being here, after all I already paid off the crazy British cousin."

"Already, told him you're living here," Gibbs went back to peeling potatoes. "He said this is a family house, its good for it to have a family in it again. And he's right. I was thinking I might start clearing out the third bedroom in the New Year."

"Boss," Tony stilled. He understood exactly how big a deal it would be for Gibbs to go through the boxes of Shannon and Kelly's things in the pink painted room. "You know, I don't think you'd find as much of a photo of me in my father's house. He always did like to pretend he was footloose and fancy free without a kid tagging at his heels. I don't think it's wrong that you want to keep them close."

"It's been a long time," Gibbs allowed. Still maybe he wasn't ready just yet. "It's something to think about."

"Trust me it will be a long time before I'm ready to even think about being a father and even then the baby can sleep in a drawer or something for the first six months or so."

Gibbs grinned, which was pretty much what Tony had been going for.

"You're really not going to know what's hit you, are you?"

"Well then, it's a good job we'll have Uncle LJ around to head slap us into shape." Tony grinned cheekily.

"Uncle LJ?" Gibbs raised a brow.

"You don't t like that? I thought it was better than Gramps," Tony didn't even try to duck the head slap that came with that. "Never mind, you've got time to think of something you like better."

"Don't need time, Gibbs will do just fine. Now get chopping or we won't be sitting down to eat until next Christmas Eve."

* * *

Having eaten his fill of the enormous turkey dinner, Tony put down his knife and fork and looked around at the unaccustomed festivity of Gibbs household. The tree sparkled in the darkness and the decorations glinted, as the candlelight reflected off the small pile of presents under the tree. It was simple and more homely than anything he had ever known.

"DiNozzo?" He realised Gibbs was looking at him with concern. "You okay?"

"Loving the tree, Boss." Tony smiled, knowing Gibbs would understand.

"Alright then, dishes first?" Jackson's eyes twinkled. "Or shall we go straight to the presents?"

"Dad, you're not supposed to open those until tomorrow." Gibbs objected.

"In case you hadn't noticed son, its past midnight already, if we open the presents now, we could all have a nice long lie in come the morning, without the young fella here waking us up at dawn to see what Santa has brought him."

"Jack, I would never .." Tony paused. "You know, actually I probably would."

Gibbs was about to insist that they all hit the rack but he took one look at his eager senior field agent and decided that he could no more stand to quash all that enthusiasm than he had been able to deny his daughter's joy in living. People had always assumed that he was the strict parent, but in fact Shannon was the one always setting any boundaries for Kelly, whilst Gibbs found it hard to deny her anything.

"Presents." Gibbs decided for them all.

"Really?" Tony practically lit up with pleasure. Yet typically his first thought was to bring joy to others. "Jack, open mine first."

Inside, the lavish box and layers of tissue paper, the dark navy cashmere sweater was no doubt the most expensive item of clothing Jackson Gibbs had ever owned. As he felt its kitten soft fabric Jack reflected that it had probably cost more than he earned in a month. Even so, he realised that Tony had probably cared far more about 'replacing' the sweater that Jack had leant him in the summer than any expense.

"This is beautiful son," Jackson ran an appreciative hand over the fine knit. "It'll make me look real dapper."

Jack's gift to Tony was nestled inside a vintage cream leather box. As the younger man lifted the lid to reveal the cufflinks and tie bar set lying in the rich cream velvet, his breath caught at their style and beauty.

"Wore those on my wedding day," Jack told him. "Since I can't see Leroy ever wanting to sport anything this fancy no matter how many more weddings he manages I figured you could give 'em a good home."

"Wait, no," Tony baulked as he realised the emotional significance of the gift. "I can't take these."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs spoke up, the look in his eyes making it clear that he couldn't think of a better man to inherit them. "Just say thank you."

"Thank you, Jack, Boss," Tony looked from one to the other. "I'll truly treasure them."

And as he closed the box, he reflected that, if he ever did decide to get married, he would be honoured to perpetuate this small piece of Gibbs family history and wear the jewellery with pride. And, God willing, both Jack and Gibbs would be there to see him do just that.

"Anyone want another beer?" Gibbs hid his smile as he stood up to go to the refrigerator.

"You're doing that on purpose," Tony accused. "You do know, that I know that you're doing that on purpose, right?"

"Want to open mine next?" Gibbs relented, his head in the refrigerator.

"I've got it, son," Jack passed the foil wrapped box that he had confiscated from the younger man at the office. Tony grinned widely before tearing into the foil paper with unmitigated glee. Gibbs' gifts were always a highlight of all his Christmas' and Birthdays. He couldn't wait to see what the man had come up with this time.

"Oh." Tony managed, as his face fell.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs returned just in time to see his obvious disappointment. He sighed. "You've never even been bird watching, have you?"

"Not exactly on my bucket list, Boss," Tony admitted ruefully, as he leafed through the encyclopaedia of American birds before trying to rally. "But hey, I'll try anything once. Maybe, we could rent a cabin, make a weekend of it. You know how much you love that out doors stuff and I've been looking for a chance to wear those cowboy boots again .."

He broke off in surprise as Gibbs reached over and plucked the book out of his hand, before striding into the kitchen and dropping it into the trash. Behind him, Jack and Tony exchanged an uncertain look, as the former Marine gripped the counter top in barely contained fury.

"Um, Boss?" Tony tried.

"Now son," Jack tried to intervene. "Maybe you could have bought something a little more to the young fella's taste, but he's wiling to give it a go, seems to me that he would try just about anything if it meant spending more time with you."

"I know that, Dad," Gibbs didn't move. "That's the problem."

"It wasn't from you, was it?" Tony realised. "My father's PA screwed up and mailed his gift to the office again, didn't she?"

"Your old man bought you a book on bird watching?" Jack looked from one to the other, as the penny dropped. "And I'm guessing he's not planning on driving up here to spend the weekend with you anytime soon."

"That's not likely, no," Tony agreed emotionlessly. "In fact, we don't really speak, much, or at all, really."

"That's a real shame, son."

"Why did you think that was my gift?" Gibbs asked, coming back to the tree, trying to reign in his fury at DiNozzo snr before that man managed to ruin their Christmas.

"That would be my fault," Jackson jumped in before Tony could talk himself into trouble. "I saw you had left it behind at the office when I was waiting for you to finish up with the Director. It was in your desk drawer and it had the young fella's name on it so I just figured you must have bought it for Tony. You have bought the boy a gift haven't you Leroy?"

"Nope," Gibbs grinned tightly. "I made it."

As Gibbs reached to retrieve a box tucked almost behind the tree, Tony gave Jack a grateful look for not ratting him out. Jack just smiled, and patted his shoulder, offering what comfort he could.

"Here." Gibbs passed over a small wooden box.

Tony gave him a questioning look as he opened the lid of the rosewood box to reveal something quite unexpected. The collection of small wooden puzzle pieces, nestling within a black felt lining were beautifully made, the hard, dark wood, tooled with absolute precision. Then hours of craftsmanship had obviously gone into shaping, smoothing and finishing each tiny piece to a rich shine.

"This _does_ have a solution, right?" Tony looked at Gibbs. "Because, I wouldn't put it past you to make something designed just to keep me quiet for a while."

"Keep looking." Gibbs advised.

Digging down to the bottom of the box Tony discovered a photo of the puzzle pieces fully assembled, sitting on Gibbs workbench. Tony's breath caught at the intricate accuracy and sheer beauty of what looked to be a perfect scale model of the Ferrari 599 GTB. The exact same car that he had dreamt of buying with Uncle Clive's inheritance that never was.

"Oh yeah," Tony grinned. "That's a solution."

"That's a mighty fine piece of work, Leroy," Jackson admired the photograph. "It seems almost a shame that you cut it into pieces."

"The pieces aren't cut," Tony realised, as he held up what was obviously a miniature tail pipe, followed by a tiny rear view mirror, each piece precision engineered so they would slot together without glue. "Its like auto shop for munchkins."

"Think you're up for it?" Gibbs raised a brow.

"Maybe," Tony glanced at him. "Although, seeing as you never got to restore the Challenger like you planned maybe you could give me a hand?"

The two men grinned at each other in silent, perfect, accord. Finally, getting restless, Jackson picked up the final package that was too square and thin to be anything but a DVD or CD. He frowned slightly.

"Tony, you do realise that Leroy doesn't much hold with modern technology? I don't reckon he's even got a doo hicky to play this on."

"Which is why," Tony quickly ducked into the hallway, returning with his backpack in one hand and a laptop in the other. "I bought this along."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs rolled his eyes, albeit rather more tolerantly that Jack had expected. "This better not be another of your attempts to educate me in the magic of Christmas movies."

"Not exactly," Tony hedged as he set up the laptop, then picked up the jewel case, looking from Jackson to Gibbs as he pulled the silver disc out of the case, before suddenly looking uncharacteristically nervous.

"You alright son?" Jack asked.

"Maybe, this wasn't such a good idea," Tony made a face. "I mean, I thought it was a great idea when I first had it and I took a whole lot of time putting it together but you know my gut isn't always as reliable as yours and now I'm thinking maybe it was actually a very bad idea and we've had a great night I don't want to be the one to ruin things so maybe I should just run out and get you a couple of bottles of Jack."

"At 1am on Christmas?" Jack was sceptical.

Gibbs simply stood up and plucked the CD out of Tony's unresisting hand. Looking his senior field agent in the eye, he noted his shallow breathing and the way he was wiping clammy palms on his pants. If he didn't know better he would say that DiNozzo was downright terrified.

"You put a lot of work into this?" He asked quietly.

Tony could only nod mutely, his eyes both anguished and hopeful.

"Then it'll be OK." Gibbs assured him.

Turning his attention back to the computer he inserted the disc clicked on the appropriate file and he felt his heart constrict as a selection of images he had never seen before began to play out across the small screen.

"I asked Maddie to help me," DiNozzo's voice was explaining. "Between us we tracked down the parents of every child Kelly ever hung out with, we found recordings of every class play, church picnic, piano recital, sleep over at friend's houses, other kid's birthday parties, you name it, we tracked it down. And then Abby helped me transfer all the film and tape and stuff onto a disc so it'll never wear out."

Gibbs said nothing, his eyes fixed on the screen, as he watched his daughter laugh, and smile and dance, in outfits he sometimes recognised, but during plays, parties and events he had never been privileged to share before. Oh, Shannon had done her best to keep him abreast of the important events in their daughter's life when he was posted abroad, but not even the best parent was with their child the whole time.

"She always was a happy little girl." Jack spoke huskily.

Gibbs knew differently. For years, his nightmares had been haunted by his daughter's sobbing cries, _don't go Daddy please don't go _but to see her so full of life, smiling and laughing and mugging up for the camera was a balm to that painful memory. Taking a step closer to the screen, he felt his eyes fill with tears at her beaming smile.

"Boss?" DiNozzo sounded like he was going to be sick. "Please tell me I didn't screw this up."

"Only you could see something this good as a screw up, DiNozzo," Gibbs managed thickly. He swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. Not looking away from the images he let a single tear roll down his face. "Although, you better pray that I never get to meet your father."

"Boss?" Tony looked confused.

"I think what Leroy is trying to say is that he would like to give your Dad a piece of his mind for not appreciating what a fine young fella his boy has grown up to be." Jack offered.

"More like a sock in the jaw." Gibbs clenched his fists.

In spite of himself, Tony couldn't help but feel warmed by the strength of feeing behind his Boss' statement. It felt good to have someone so firmly in his corner. That hadn't happened a whole lot when he was growing up. Too many people had been dazzled by his father's charm or seduced by his money. Part of him wanted to fantasize a little about what it would be like to see Gibbs and his Dad go toe to toe against one another. The other part of him couldn't think of anything more terrifying than having those two men together in a room talking about him.

Still, it wasn't like it would ever actually happen.

"For what it counts my money's on you, Boss. But I wouldn't hold your breath. I haven't seen him in years. It's not like he's just going to show up at the Navy Yard. I mean, what are the odds?" Tony grinned confidently.


End file.
